World Pulmonary Hypertension Day is celebrated on May 5 every year to raise awareness about this often under-diagnosed disease and to celebrate the lives of people living with pulmonary hypertension (PH). This year, it is celebrated in more than 80 countries around the world under the slogan “PH is important”.
Pulmonary hypertension is a group of chronic diseases affecting the heart and lungs. It is a progressive disease characterized by increased pressure within the pulmonary circulation resulting gradual failure of the right side of the heart and death. The most important factors that can influence the positive course of this disease are timely diagnosis and therapy introduction. In addition to prolonging survival, it also significantly improves the quality of patients’ lives.
It is estimated that pulmonary hypertension is diagnosed annually in between 2-5 people per million inhabitants, which would mean that this disease is diagnosed in between 15 and 35 people in Serbia every year. Since age is an important risk factor for the disease and the unfavourable course of the disease, it is assumed that the aging of the population will increase the incidence of this disease. In order to identify the factors that influence the frequency of pulmonary hypertension and its prognosis, it is necessary that monitoring and recording of patients with this disease be organized.
In cooperation with the Association for Pulmonary Hypertension of Serbia, the company “Heliant” has established the National Registry for Pulmonary Hypertension, which will record diagnosed patients and which will enable organized collection and analysis of data on patients.